Samsung smart TV problems

If possible plugging the laptop into the TV or casting from Tablet or Laptop may allow big screen viewing, if the TV has built in Chromecast they may be able to circumvent the SBS on Demand App. It may also be worthwhile deleting the offending App and reinstalling to see if that fixes the problem.

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As TheBBG posted above, Iā€™m one of those using an old Sony Vaio for SBS OnDemand and ABC iView, on an over 10yo Samsung ā€œsmart TVā€.
I see no ads on SBS, there is just a slight pause at the dot on the progress bar, where the ads normally are.
The Samsung aps are truly a PITA for both SBS OnDemand and ABC iView, although itā€™s hard to know how much of the problem is due to the apps and how much is due to nbn satellite. Recovering after the continual streaming stops is a lot simpler on the computer than via the app. However, sometimes it is just easier to give up when the restarts are every few minutes, and watch as a catch-up later on, which is what we generally have to do.

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Sounds like like a buffering issue. Samsung has a trouble shooting page about buffering with may be worth readingā€¦

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Thanks but not sure this is the issue. The buffering only occurs on ads, never with the program. If it were a buffering issue I believe it would be the other way around. Any forums I have come across seem to support this, I havenā€™t encountered any people with my problem

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Should one have to? No. Do customers have to? Often

Thanks TheBBG, I guess thatā€™s my point. I bought a ā€˜smart TVā€™ so I didnā€™t have to do work-arounds with my old Sony TV (which still works well as a spare TV). Naively perhaps I felt that purchasing a ā€˜smart TVā€™ with preinstalled apps meant that firstly the apps would work and secondly that the TV would work with the apps. More fool meā€¦

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Thanks grahroll but deleting, reinstalling has already been tried with no success.

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Thanks gordon, there are obviously work-arounds but I want my TV to work as advertised.

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My TV is 11 years old and I routinely check reviews expecting to have to replace it almost any time, and one thing that often stands out is the continual problems buyers have with the inbuilt apps, and the differences been manufacturers in how and how long they support their own software. It is not often a pretty picture, no matter the quality of the TV.

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We have a 2015 model Samsung TV, and using the SBS app we notice a slight delay of around 3 seconds before the ads play. Once they are playing there are no further issues.

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We have a Panasonic DVR that is newer than our TV. The SBS app available for the DVR no longer works.

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I would not be entirely sure of your assumption here, given the way that programs are streamed. (Note: I am not in the industry and have made some assumptions here.)

Imagine that you are watching a TV episode on digital - this is a single stream of data from a single file coming in to the destination (it is actually messier than that, as audio and video will be in separate files, and there may be more than one file for the episode). I would be surprised if SBS embedded ads in that single file. Instead, it probably pauses the stream while running the ad stream. Once the ads end, back to the original stream, which has already buffered for the next 30 seconds before the ads cut in.

Someone in these fora may be able to correct the details of this, but I suspect the overall picture is something like what I have described.

Personally, I never intend to connect a TV that I own to the Internet. TVs are designed first and foremost with ideas of picture and sound quality per $, not as secure online devices.

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No problem at all. The workarounds I suggest are simply to allow you to watch the shows you want until, or if ever, a fix is provided. If one never comes what choices that leaves you includes perhaps a request/demand for some refund in respect of failure to provide everything you wanted (the decrease in value because of the failure). ACL (Australian Consumer Law) allows for this, this perhaps is the answer however unpalatable it is at the moment ie seek some compensation for the issue.

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I like your thinking, thank you

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I have a current model Samsung TV that locks up on a regular basis, especially watching SBS On Demand. Blue tooth headphones take forever to pair and watching pre-recorded videos from a USB drive locks up when loading the menu for that drive. I have reported this problem to Samsung previously and replaced the tv only after 2 days. The same problem is with the replacement TV. Is anyone else having similar problems?

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I moved your post here, dedicated to Samsung Smart TV problems, as you may find others having similar issues with their Samsung TVā€™s who have previously posted, as well as some potential work-arounds.

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ā€œSmartā€ TV apps are notoriously bad. You far are better off with a cheaper ā€œdumbā€ TV linked to a set-top box - Apple TV, Android TV, Roku, Chromecast dongle. If you have a smart TV, ditch the internal apps in favour of a smart box. The boxes have feature-rich, well written, upgradeable, native apps, and online stores/platforms that offer downloadable apps for alternative streaming services, weather, gaming, and air-playing from computers and phones. I have a 4K Kogan 65" dumb TV, which I drive with Apple TV. The result is a high-quality and reliable viewing experience.

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Starting to think that Kogan is the only place one can buy a dumb TV. My Samsung (not especially smart, came out well before netflix et al) functions pretty well most of the time, and then randomly refuses to show anything on its screen except ā€œsnowā€. It self fixes with no intervention from me, until next time. I rather think the panel might be on the way out but its had a decent run, 12-13 years now. I use a Fetch Mighty and an AppleTV4 for most of what I need/want. I do not want a smart TV, especially one with Android, or one that listens to the room.

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I suspect smart/dumb TVs and set-top boxes donā€™t have microphones, ā€œearsā€ and ā€œeyesā€, unlike that Google Alexa abomination. Also the boxes have much better network security than do smart TVs.

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This is exactly what we did. We bought an Android 9 TV box and havenā€™t looked back. Had problems with supported app list diminishing and also those which were supportedā€¦started having bugs.

The only downside is ABC iView isnā€™t supported in Android 9 box yet, but fortunately it still works on our Smart TV (I just noticed that iView has an update and muct see if it is supported by our box).

We estimate that the Android 9 TV box will outlast the current TV we have.

It also has an added benefit that any Android 9 supported apps will run on itā€¦such as media player (e.g. VLC), social media and the list goes on. Such arenā€™t supported by TV smart systems.

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Sadly, not so. a Couple of years ago there was a huge outcry because Samsung was recording all conversations in a room. You had to have it active of course, but still, disconcerting.

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